Taking Green to Higher Level
Home Network
- Microwave T1 connection, from service provider
- Linksys WRT 150N Router
- Linksys WAP 54G Router
- Linksys 16-port switch
- Linksys Wireless GameBridge
Home Theater
- Macintosh computer with HDTV receiver card and EyeTV software
- Samsung 56-inch DLP
- Linux Home Theater PC
- Zensonic networked DVD player
- InFocus ScreenPlay 4805 projector
- Oppo networked DVD player
- Denon 1705 amplifier
- InFocus IN76 front projector
- Marantz SR8001 audio/video receiver
- Sony PlayStation III
Music
- AirPort Express Base Station
Video Surveillance
- Linksys digital IP camera
Telecommuting and IP Telephony
- Laptop computer with Cisco VPN Client software
- Consumer VoIP service
Solar panels cover the Mitchells’ garage, generating enough power to eliminate the need for public utilities.
Picture the entertainment options in a home situated one mile down a dirt road in a rural area without electric or phone utilities. If you’re thinking Scrabble by candlelight, you might be pleasantly surprised to be a guest in the Northern California home of Mike Mitchell, director of collaboration business services for Cisco.
Mitchell uses solar and windmill power, a microwave Internet connection, and Linksys wired and wireless networks to provide enviable video and music systems as well as a sophisticated telecommuter setup for his wife and himself.
“We use our home IP network for all aspects of our life,” Mitchell says. “It handles everything from transporting movies and music from room to room, to video surveillance, to IP telephony for personal and business calls.”
Living Off the Grid
When he built his home in 2004, Mitchell asked his contractor to install a solar energy kit, which currently produces 4.0 kilowatts.
As a hedge against cloudy skies, he later installed a windmill that produces an additional 900 watts.
And just in case, Mitchell has a backup generator. The power is more than adequate for the family’s energy needs, including appliances, computers, the home entertainment equipment, and a recently purchased air conditioner.
A Wireless Connection to the World
For Internet connectivity, which the family uses for browsing the web, e-mail, voice over IP, and purchasing iTunes and movies, Mitchell subscribes to a wireless service that provides 1.5 Mbps bandwidth both upstream and downstream.
The connection terminates in Mitchell’s garage, at a dish that is attached to a Linksys WRT 150N Router. This router, in turn, connects wirelessly to a Linksys WAP 54G Wireless Router and Linksys 16-port switch in the house, providing Internet connectivity on all three floors.
First Floor: Everyday Home Entertainment
Used for gaming and movies, this InFocus projector is on about eight hours a week.
The family buys some movies on DVD and downloads others from the Internet, using a Macintosh computer. The Mac, equipped with an HDTV receiver card and EyeTV software, is also used to record free TV shows broadcast over the airwaves. To reduce storage space requirements, Mitchell transcodes videos to the 1-Mbps MPEG-4 format.
The Mitchell family has its choice of three large-screen displays for watching movies and TV shows. On a typical day, they’re likely to gather in the playroom to watch on a 56-inch, rear-projecting Samsung DLP (Digital Light Processing) display, which, at 250 watts, is the most energy-efficient display in the home.
The sophistication of the network is hidden: someone simply selects the video to watch. Behind the scenes, the movie selection is sent wirelessly from the Mac, and then the Mac obliges by transmitting the movie wirelessly to the Zensonic DVD player attached to the Samsung DLP. The movies are streamed in real time.
Occasionally, the family splurges on energy and watches video in the third-floor home theater, which is equipped with an InFocus IN76 front projector that displays an 11-feet-wide image. This projector is connected to an Oppo networked DVD player, Sony PlayStation III and a Marantz SR8001 audio/video receiver. The home theater setup uses up to 750 watts, or three times as much energy as the DLP display. “Sometimes it’s worth the extra energy for an immersive experience,” Mitchell says.
The third option is outdoor viewing, or what Mitchell calls an “ad hoc, drive-in experience.” On these occasions, he hangs an 8-feet-wide screen on his van and shows the movie with an InFocus ScreenPlay 4805 projector.
Everything Wireless
When he can, Mitchell purchases equipment that has built-in wireless connectivity. When this is not possible, he can add wireless connectivity to any device that has an Ethernet port by connecting it to his Linksys Wireless GameBridge. He uses it for the Linux Home Theater PC, for example, as well as for his A/V components, when he wants to install software or firmware upgrades from the Internet.
The Linksys Wireless GameBridge also comes in handy when Mitchell uses his PlayStation III as a Linux computer instead of for gaming. When gaming is shut off, so is the native wireless connectivity, and the Linksys bridge adds it back.
Music in the Air
The Mitchell family stores its extensive iTunes collection on the Mac but plays it on the stereo, which has more powerful speakers.
The setup is simple: AirTunes software on the Mac sends the songs wirelessly to a small AirPort Express Base Station attached to the stereo.
Peace of Mind with Video Surveillance
The Mitchells use their home network for more than entertainment. A Linksys home-security camera is installed in the playroom, enabling Mitchell and his wife to keep an eye on the children.
“No matter where we are in the house or yard, we can use a wireless laptop to log into the camera’s IP address to see real-time video of the playroom,” Mitchell says.
Phone Service—with No Phone Lines
The Mitchells use both solar and wind devices to power up these batteries and the home.
For personal phone calls, the family subscribes to a consumer VoIP service. Incoming and outgoing calls travel over the same microwave T1 connection used for Web browsing and e-mail. For business calls, Mitchell and his wife use Cisco IP Communicator software on their laptop computers.
Mitchell’s laptop also includes Cisco VPN Client software, which creates a secure voice and data connection to the Cisco intranet. The telecommuter setup has significantly reduced phone bills for Mitchell’s wife, who previously used a cell phone for business calls. Now her calls are free because they travel over the IP network.
Advice for Going Green
With three years’ experience living off the grid, Mitchell is comfortable with the tradeoffs. An advantage is that he has fewer blackouts than his neighbors who live on the grid, with total downtime of only about 10 minutes a year.
A minor inconvenience is that he now carefully considers power consumption when he purchases electronic equipment.
Mitchell offers the following advice for people who want to reduce their power consumption:
- Consider the power requirements of PCs and display devices such as projection TVs when you make purchase decisions. DLPs, for example, can use half the power of some plasma displays—250 watts compared to 500 watts.
- Wired and wireless home networks use very little power, so no special purchase considerations or techniques are needed to conserve energy.
- Shut down all equipment when not in use.
“Replace your light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs,” Mitchell says. “This single step has more impact on energy conservation than installing a kilowatt of solar panels.”
Mike Mitchell’s home network was recently featured in Electronic House magazine. For more information, see “Living Off the Grid in High Style.”
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